Saints and Sisters: Home Is Where the Heart Is
by SpazzyBabySister
Summary: The sisters are back and trying to figure out how to settle back into normal life. Err...well...as normal a life as it possibly could be after letting the Saints into their lives. Can they do it? Or will there be complications?


"It feels kinda weird to be back here." Alia said, tossing her bag to the side as she passed the entrance into their apartment.

"Kinda…unfamiliar?" Summer offered as she followed suit. Together they stepped into their small living room. They spent a minute looking around before sitting on their couch. "So…we should call your school, don't you think?"

Alia groaned. "Not just yet. I hate that place."

"You whine a lot," Summer said as she got up for a glass of water. "You're going to have to go back sometime, you know."

Alia flipped around to look at her sister from over the back of the couch. "It won't be the same, Summer. I hated being around those kids before. How am I supposed to stand being around them after everything we've been through?"

Once the water reached the top of the glass, Summer paused and set the glass on the counter. She knew Alia had a point. Their perspectives had changed. Things they hadn't thought twice about taking for granted before, now meant something new to them. Having to face the fact that death could arrive at any given moment changes a person, there was no denying that. It made you appreciate small things you otherwise might never have even known were there. Summer looked up at Alia and thought about her job. She worked at a small law firm before getting involved with the Saints. Could she go back there? Could she stand to hear people gripe about the most mundane grievances? It was difficult enough with her experience growing up in the back of her mind, but now? Still keeping her eyes locked with Alia's, she shook her head. "What about online courses? Can you continue your education online?" Summer asked as she sat back down on the couch beside her little sister.

Almost causing Summer to spill her water, Alia hugged her excitedly. "I'll go to the library tomorrow and use their computer to see."

Summer groaned and rubbed her temples as soon as Alia let go. "That's right. We'll need a computer. How much do you think a good one costs?"

"Probably at least five hundred dollars or something."

Already feeling their savings take a hit, Summer wiped a hand over her face. "Ok. That's not too bad. We can manage that."

"I could get a job," Alia offered.

Summer rolled her eyes and turned to her. "You need to focus on school."

"I can do both!"

At the sound of someone knocking, Summer pushed herself off the couch, saying firmly, "Not now, hermanita. I'm tired and don't have the energy to argue with you." Alia grumbled, but kept quiet as Summer unlatched the door and swung it open. She flinched and jerked back a little at the sight of a potted plant. After a few blinks, she started to ask what she was looking at, but stopped when Connor popped his head out from the side of the plant and grinned.

"Call it a house warming present," he announced with a grin.

"More like a re-house warming present," Murphy commented, kicking Connor's backside quickly. "They already lived here, remember?"

Connor turned his head back to Murphy. "Well it was a nice moment 'til you opened your yap."

"I'll open your head next if you don't ask to come in already," Murphy half-growled, hefting the box in his arms a little higher to adjust his hold on it.

Summer blushed slightly and laughed, "By all means." She motioned for Connor and Murphy to enter. She watched in slight awe as Murphy walked passed her, eager to find out what else the boys had brought with them. Wasting no time, she hurried back over to the couch beside Alia and hopped a bit as she sat down. "You didn't have to, you know. Although we appreciate the thought," she said with a glance and a nod at Alia.

"Good luck explaining that to Mr. We-Won't-Be-Bothering-Them-Let's-Go-Right-Now," Murphy said in a mocking tone with a pitch that gradually grew higher. Connor elbowed Murphy with a warning look which Murphy challenged with a look of his own.

Summer chose to ignore the boys' silent bickering and grinned widely. "You two are always welcome in our home." With a small laugh she added, "Because it's a blessing, isn't it? To be in the presence of Saints?" Connor and Murphy grinned back at her while Alia raised her eyebrows and thought, "What happened to being tired? Now she's got jokes."

Connor reached into the box and said, "We came bearing gifts for our Angels." Summer, Alia, and even Murphy froze and looked right at Connor who dropped what was in his hand quickly and hurried to explain. "That didn't come out…I mean…" He scrambled and pulled a copy of the day's newspaper out of his back pocket. "This! I was quoting this." Summer took the paper from him and unfolded it, leaning back so Alia could read over her shoulder. At the top of the front page stood the headline "Saints Return Beside Angels of Death." The picture beneath the headline was a shot from the escape at the prison from one of the security cameras. In the article, the reporter explained that once the, now known to be false, dead bodies of the Saints had been discovered, the police overlooked this footage. However, after coming across the scene of mass murder at an abandoned building by the harbor and seeing the hauntingly familiar sight of pennies in the eyes of the victims, they decided to revisit the footage and re-examine the bodies.

"…We're angels," Summer said quietly.

"Of death," Alia added. The girls looked at each other before bursting into laughter.

"I'd rather be a Guardian Angel," Summer said, feigning being indignant.

"You'll take what you get and be proud the paper acknowledged you," Alia joked. "This is going right up on the fridge."

Connor and Murphy laughed. "At least the image is blurry enough that no one'd be able to identify either of you," Murphy said, nodding to the paper.

The girls looked up at him then back down at the photo. "That's true," Summer nodded. She flinched back an inch when a bottle suddenly covered the picture. She looked up to see Connor holding it out to her with a smile. Taking it in her hands, she allowed the paper to fall into her lap and gaped at the label. "Connor, this wine must have cost you a fortune!"

He sat on the arm of the couch near her and grinned. "We found it among Da's stuff in Ireland and have been holding onto it since."

Summer touched the bottle's label lightly, "This belonged to your father." She looked up at the boys and smiled with genuine gratitude. "This means so much."

Murphy motioned awkwardly, "Go ahead and let's open it then."

With a quick laugh, Summer shook her head. "We'll save it for when my baby sister is old enough to enjoy it with us, hm?"

Murphy looked to Alia who smiled at him and gave a small wave. He nodded a bit awkwardly, but not enough to notice. "Right." Connor glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and started laughing. Murphy shoved him a bit, slight embarrassment clear on his face. Summer and Alia looked at each other in confusion and shrugged, figuring it must just be a twin thing or something. Clearing his throat, Murphy said a bit apologetically, "We've bothered you enough. We'll get going now." He gave Connor a look and motioned to the door with a nod.

Still chuckling a bit, Connor stood. "Have a good night. Remember to lock your door and windows so no weird, creepy old guys sneak in an-" he got cut off when Murphy elbowed him in the stomach.

When they guys had left, Summer yawned loudly and stretched. "We should get to bed. C'mon." She patted Alia's back to get her off the couch.

"Fine, but tomorrow let's talk about me getting a job, ok?" Summer just walked up the hall to her bedroom. "Summer!" Alia whined. Seeing that she wasn't going to get anywhere on the job front, she waved her hand at Summer and went to her own room as well.

The next morning, Summer woke up to the smell of hot breakfast filling the apartment. Shuffling into the kitchen, she found Alia standing at the stove cooking French toast. Beside her on the counter sat a plate of scrambled eggs and a dish covered in bacon. Alia looked up from the toast and grinned at her. "Sit down. I'll get you a plate." An eyebrow raised, Summer went to sit at the table in the small dining room. A moment later, Alia placed a full plate in front of her.

"This looks and smells delicious," Summer commented, picking up her fork and glancing at Alia's large grin. "You're not getting a job."

Groaning loudly, Alia flopped into the chair beside her. "I can make it work! It'll only be part-time and I'll find a nice place like a bookstore or something."

"It's funny, you're so young, but your hearing seems to be going. I said no and I mean no."

"You didn't even think about it!" Alia protested as she got up to tend to the last pieces of toast.

"I did so," Summer said through a mouth full of egg and bacon.

Alia rolled her eyes while turning the pieces of toast over. "For what? Two seconds?"

"Did it deserve more thought?"

"Summer!" Practically throwing the pieces onto the plate she had out, Alia appealed. "Summer, I could handle breaking three guys out of prison, I can handle a part-time job."

Summer scoffed. "You got shot. Try using an analogy that _doesn't _involve you getting injured."

"Ok…" Alia fell into thought as Summer finished off her plate and got up to put it in the sink.

"While you think, go eat. I'll do the dishes this time since you cooked. When I'm done, I'm going job hunting so I'll need you to go buy some groceries for the week, ok?" She turned to see Alia sitting at the table with her food in front of her, still obviously deep in thought. "Ey!" Alia snapped her head up and looked at Summer. "I said I need you to go grocery shopping, can you handle that, Madame Daydream?" With a dismissive wave of her hand, Alia nodded and began to eat breakfast.

*Hours Later*

Alia stared down at the list Summer had given her before she left, mentally checking off all the things written down as she glanced at the shopping cart beside her. "There's an awful lot of Irish-looking ingredients in here…" Smirking a little, she brought the cart up to the check-out line and hummed as she waited for her turn. As soon as she finally purchased everything, she started to push the cart out of the store, intending to bring it back once she'd gotten the groceries home, as always. On her way out, she spotted a flyer on the corkboard hanging by the automatic door. Pausing, she reached out and pulled it off. It was an advertisement for a job opening at a new bookstore that just opened downtown. Alia studied it for a while before pocketing it quickly. "Maybe Summer'd like it there. It'd be quiet so she wouldn't have to deal with too many idiots."

*That Evening*

Summer came bursting through the door, agitation clear in her demeanor. "I swear to everything that is holy, if _one_ more sorry excuse for a man tries to make a pass at me during an interview, I will show him an angel of death!" Exhausted, Summer crashed onto the couch, putting her feet up on the coffee table. "Why can't men be more-

"-like Saints?" Alia interrupted her with a raised eyebrow, smirking a little.

Confused, Summer turned to her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing." Pulling out the flyer from her pocket, Alia sat down beside her. "Did you try this place?"

"What is it?" Summer took the flyer with a doubting expression.

"Just look at it, will you?"

A minute passed as Summer considered working at the place advertised on the flyer. "I like it! I'll check it out tomorrow," she said with a grin. "Have you made dinner yet or shall I peel myself off the couch?"

"It's in the oven. It looked like you were gonna be home late so I started just in case."

"Such a good girl," Summer said while ruffling Alia's hair. "Why can't you always be like this?"

Laughing a little, Alia pushed Summer's hand away and went to check on dinner. "It's not in my nature."

"You're a little devil," Summer said with a small yawn as she moved to lie on the couch.

"I take after you."

"Oh ho! She has jokes!"

"Not gems like yours last night, I'm afraid." As soon as Alia said that, she remembered something she'd been meaning to ask her sister. "Hey, Summer?" she called, pulling the enchiladas out of the oven and setting the tray on the cooling rack she had out. Summer groaned in response, too tired to actually acknowledge Alia's call. "You like Connor, don't you?"

Summer sat up quickly and looked over into the kitchen, eyes wide, a slight hint of red in her cheeks. "What? Where'd you get that from?"

Shrugging, Alia pulled out plates and silverware. "I don't know. Maybe it's the way you try to flirt. Maybe it's the way your eyes turn to hearts when you look at him." A throw pillow came flying at her face and she barely dodged it in time. "What was that for?"

"Don't you get full of yourself, I'm still your older sister. Treat me with respect," Summer said as she walked into the kitchen to help Alia set the table.

"I was respectfully teasing you. Plus, you didn't deny it."

Summer tossed the dishtowel at Alia's face. "I'm not talking about it. Especially not with you."

"Why not?" Alia whined a bit as she started to serve herself.

"Because _you_ should be thinking about school, _not_ relationships. Understand me?"

"Si, si, claro," she said while rolling her eyes.

Lightly, Summer hit Alia's arm. "Just go sit and eat like a good little girl."

"You mean like an angel?" Alia corrected, swinging her hips comically.

"Like the little angel of death you are," she laughed.

As she sat, a slightly worried expression came over Alia. "Summer, no one can tell who we are from that picture in the paper, right?"

Summer paused and thought about it. "No. It was too blurry."

"They have technology to clean stuff like that up, though."

The girls just looked at each other. What would they do if they were recognized? What would happen to them? Summer shook her head. "Murphy said it was ok, so it's ok. Now eat before your food gets cold." Although she said this, she did not convince herself and knew that Alia would not be convinced either, but what was the point of being negative about it? What good would come from worrying her so much? It was a good thing they had decided for her to finish school online. Maybe Summer would try finding a way to work online, too. The rest of their meal was spent in silence as each girl worried to herself over the possibilities.


End file.
